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Inter-firm relations are not new. But fast developments in technology and globalization have led to increased opportunities for international alliances, and an upsurge in the interest in inter-organizational relations. With the time ripe for a unified theory of collaboration, Inter-firm Collaboration, Learning and Networks surveys the current field, connects differing perspectives and answers questions about who should collaborate, why, and how.
Emphasizing learning and innovation, this book offers an integrated account of the key issues in the design and management of inter-firm relations and networks. It takes a uniquely interdisciplinary approach, bringing together perspectives from economics, sociology and management to offer a new kind of book on this subject. Supporting theory, the book includes illustrative case examples taken from a variety of firm, network and industry types.
Coherent and wide-reaching, Inter-firm Collaboration, Learning and Networks provides students and academics in economics, business, sociology, social psychology and economic geography with the tools required to understand this topical and highly relevant subject.
List of contents
1. Introduction 1.1 Aims and scope 1.1.1 Questions 1.1.2 Scope 1.1.3 Disciplines 1.2 Concepts and theory 1.2.1 Competence 1.2.2 Knowledge 1.2.3 Decision heuristics 1.2.4 Organization 1.2.5 Institutions 1.2.6 Complementary cognition 1.2.7 Tacit knowledge, absorptive capacity and firm size 1.2.8 Knowledge transfer to small firms 1.2.9 Governance 1.3 Advanced 1.3.1 Cognitive distance 1.3.2 Empirical tests 1.3.5 Evolutionary psychology 1.3.6 Institutions and evolution 1.3.7 Methodological interactionism 1.3.8 Incommensurability 2. Goals 2.1 Goals 2.1.1 Efficiency 2.1.2 Competence 2.1.3 Positioning 2.1.4 Performance 2.2 Concepts and theory 2.2.1 Economies of scale and scope 2.2.2 Economies of time 2.2.3 Innovation 2.2.4 Learning, exploration and exploitation 2.2.5 Communities of practice 2.2.6 Internationalization 2.3 Advanced 2.3.1 Threshold costs 2.3.2 Cycle of discovery 2.3.3 Leaning by internationalization 3. Structure 3.1 Forms 3.1.1 Structure 3.1.2 Ties 3.1.3 Concentration of ownership and control 3.1.4 Cobwebs 3.2 Choice 3.2.1 MA or alliance? 3.2.2 Bad reasons 3.2.3 Joint ventures 3.2.4 Network structure 3.2.5 Licensing 3.2.6 Structures of buyer-supplier relations 3.2.7 External corporate venturing 3.3 Concepts and theory 3.3.1 Third parties 3.3.2 The revelation problem 3.4 Advanced 3.4.1 Location 4. Governance 4.1 Risk analysis 4.1.1 Governance 4.1.2 Relational risk 4.1.3 An audit of hold-up risk 4.1.4 Network effects 4.2 Instruments 4.2.1 Risk control 4.2.2 Strategic orientations 4.2.3 Instruments 4.2.4 Contingencies 4.3 Concepts and theory 4.3.1 Trust 4.3.2 Go-betweens 4.3.3 Hostages 4.4 Advanced 4.4.1 Detailed risk audit 4.4.1.1 Value 4.4.1.2 Switching costs 4.4.1.3 Room for opportunism 4.4.1.4 Intent towards opportunism 4.4.1.5 Overall system 4.4.2 Detailed choice 4.4.2.1 Conditions 4.4.2.2 Problems of governance 4.4.2.3 Examples 4.4.3 Empirical tests 5. Process 5.1 Stages of relations 5.1.1. Beginning 5.1.2. Management 5.1.3. Adaptation 5.1.4. The end 5.2 Networks for exploration and exploitation 5.2.1 Networks for exploration: the competence side 5.2.2 Networks for exploration: the governance side 5.2.3 Networks for exploitation 5.2.4 Contingencies 5.2.5 Conclusion 5.2.6 Empirical evidence 5.2.6.1 Multimedia 5.2.6.2 Biotechnology 5.2.7 Development of clusters 5.2.8 Development of MNC's 5.2.9 Keiretsu5.3 Advanced 5.3.1 Opening game 5.3.2 Closing game 5.3.3 Generic forms of outsourcing 6. Summary and Conclusions 6.1 Integrated theory 6.2 Dyads and networks 6.3 Goals of collaboration 6.4 Forms of collaboration 6.5 Governance 6.6 Process 6.7 Further research
About the author
Bart Nooteboom is Professor of Organization in the Rotterdam School of Management at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Summary
Inter-firm relations are not new. But fast developments in technology and globalization have led to increased opportunities for international alliances, and an upsurge in the interest in inter-organizational relations. With the time ripe for a unified theory of collaboration, Inter-firm Collaboration, Learning and Networks surveys the current field, connects differing perspectives and answers questions about who should collaborate, why, and how.
Emphasizing learning and innovation, this book offers an integrated account of the key issues in the design and management of inter-firm relations and networks. It takes a uniquely interdisciplinary approach, bringing together perspectives from economics, sociology and management to offer a new kind of book on this subject. Supporting theory, the book includes illustrative case examples taken from a variety of firm, network and industry types.
Coherent and wide-reaching, Inter-firm Collaboration, Learning and Networks provides students and academics in economics, business, sociology, social psychology and economic geography with the tools required to understand this topical and highly relevant subject.
